The Last Night At Dan Lynch's (Long but informative)
Bronxharp
Maggie Dicey wrote>> So... Did anybody go to Dan Lynch on Sunday? I'm
anxious to hear every detail.
Well, Maggie... I can't tell you how the WHOLE night went, cuz I got
there at 11:30. But when i got there, it was pretty packed, and hard to
move through the cowd. Someone who spied my Charles Honeyboy Otis T-shirt
(yes, he had his very own T-shirts and he gave me one back in 88 or 89),
told me that Charles had been there already, played, and left. Charles
never did like to hang around at Lynch's after he had a falling out of
some sort with some of the people who ran things there in the late 80's,
including his old partner bassist Harry Holt (formerly of James Brown's
Famous Flames, and apparently fell off the side of the earth 5 yrs ago).
So when Charles showed up to play, it was always cuz something big was
going on. He was was able to put the bad blood aside to show up for Bill
Dicey's benefit, as well as Nat Riddles' benefit, Louvette Jackson's
benefit (I use to tell people... "if I ever get sick and I need a benefit
for my hospital bills, please DON'T have it a Lynch's... look what
happens..." I don't mean this as a joke, of course, Maggie.. but it's
somewhat ironic, as you more than well know). So anyhow, aside from
Charles, Jon Paris (former J Winter bassist, & a guitar frontman in his
own right) was in the house, and I presume he played already. Same for
harmonicists Ron Sunshine, & Motor City James. Frankie Paris was running
the jam. Had been since 4 in the afternoon. Nami, a great drummer from
Japan (who also plays in my band, Mark the Harper & the Journeymen) was
manning the kit for most of the time, but other drummers came in, too.
Barry Harrison of the Johnny Copeland Band played, and so did Milo Z.
Actually, Milo Z and Z-Funk, not a blues band at all, were there as a unit
and played several tunes. Milo was in the "Joey Miserable and the Worms"
(which then became just "the Worms" when "joey" aka Simon Chardiet left to
do his own thing) and the Sweetones from way back. Now he does rap and
funk. It was actually somewhat amusing to see him try lead the Blues crowd
there in a rap chant (!). But the funk stuff they did was tight and well
arranged. Milo's bassist Smokin Joe sang a few Blues tunes. A couple of
female vocalists came up and sang some tunes, not so stellar performances,
but Frankie had promised that everyone who was there would play. Other
people who played included guitarists "No Name" James (Tritones), Peter
Conway, Robbie (Broken Blues Band), JC Doo King, Tony Bruno, Alexander
Rastopchin (from Frankie's band and also my band), and some people I didnt
know. Angelo Olivier played bass at the end of the night. I played a lot
of harp, but unfortunately didnt get to sing anything till the end, and
was not able to get more than one full song in before the plug was pulled
for the night (forever), which is a shame, cuz (IMHO) I was the second
best singer in the house (at least of the people who performed from the
time I got there till the end). I could have played more, but I wanted to
dance with an old flame who showed up to also bid her farewells to the
place. Indeed, many people who hadn't been there in a very long time made
it a point to be there, and the party and live music went on NON-STOP till
4 am! A full 12 hours! there was a lot of dancing, and a lot of tears, and
reminiscing, picture taking and video-taping.
*** I myself am curious to find out who played before 11:30,*** so if
anyone who is reading this knows, please post! Blues-Ler Jennifer Zogott
was there, too, and got there before me... Hey jenn... what's the word?
Margey Peters, another Blues-Ler, and fine bass player was probably there,
too. Whatdya' say Marge? It must have been a star studded affair from
earlier on... Margey lucked out and got to cart home all the yellowing
promo photos off the back wall (that's right, babe, at least that's what
Karolla told me, lucky you!).
Anyhow, the NYC blues community really does feel like it lost a home.
True, there is Manny's and Chicago & Terra Blues still on the scene, but
Lynch's was around for so long it became like an old friend. Lifelong
friendships and musical bonds were forged there. Many a Blues musician
learned their craft there, and was given the opportunity to practice it at
the weekend jam sessions. I remember when I was a college kid and would
come back to the city on winter break, and just sit at the counter and
watch and listen to people like Bill Dicey play. He was always very free
with sharing his knowledge, too. Same for Nat Riddle. One could
theoretically spend a whole Blues weekend there.. Fri night till 4 am, sat
afternoon jam sessions, sat night band till 4 am, sunday afternoon jam
sessions, sunday night band...
I remember going to sit in with a band there once in 1989 or 90, and
Warren Haynes of the Allman Brothers (whom I didnt know at the time, he
was knew to the band) was also sitting in, and I got to jam with him. He
later would come to my gigs, and also had me sit in with his solo band on
6 occassions. The last time I gigged there, Popa Chubby sat in with us,
and the time before that, Michael Hill joined us for a few tunes. Popsy of
the Holmes Brothers always came up to sing with us when he was in the
place (which was often, especially before the Holmes Bros took off big).
Back in 1994 I was playing there on an otherwise uneventful Tuesday night,
when some official from Portugal was in attendence, and was so impressd
with my band that he brought us to Europe to headline at a major event,
all expenses paid! There are many more stories of how some struggling
bands were brought over to Europe because someone happened to catch them
at Lynch's one lucky night. Unfortunately, those lucky nights are gone
forever now, except for in our memories.
Maggie Dicey
At 07:03 AM 8/6/96 -0400, Bronxharp wrote:
>I remember when I was a college kid and would
>come back to the city on winter break, and just sit at the counter and
>watch and listen to people like Bill Dicey play. He was always very free
>with sharing his knowledge, too.
Music was Bill's life. He was devoted to the Blues and always took the time
to encourage fledging players and provide whatever help he could to anyone
who asked. (He is still sharing via audio cassette; interested harp players
should email me privately for more info, subject: Bill Dicey's Tips &
Tricks.) Without him, DAN LYNCH BAR & GRILL would have folded sixteen years ago.
Thanks for the rundown on the "wake." I was there at the beginning, and
since I couldn't be there at the end, I crave the vicarious experience. (I
wonder who ended up with the photos of me...<G>)
Looking forward to more memoirs (Jennifer? Margey?),
Maggie
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http://www.friend.ly.net/user-homepages/m/mdicey/
Jennifer A. Zogott
Bronxharp (bron...@AOL.COM) wrote:
: Maggie Dicey wrote>> So... Did anybody go to Dan Lynch on Sunday? I'm
: anxious to hear every detail.
:
: Well, Maggie... I can't tell you how the WHOLE night went, cuz I got
: there at 11:30. But when i got there, it was pretty packed, and hard to
: move through the cowd.
: *** I myself am curious to find out who played before 11:30,*** so if
: anyone who is reading this knows, please post! Blues-Ler Jennifer Zogott
: was there, too, and got there before me... Hey jenn... what's the word?
:
Marge didn't make it, but I was there from around 6 until around 12:30.
Bill Sims played earlier, with Barry Harrison on drums, Bob Fusco (of Roxy
Perry's band) on bass, & Roxy on harp (she was suffering from a bad throat
& couldn't sing). Also, Lewis Gatewood & Melanie Bliden; Lewis doesn't
gig that much, but for my money, he's one of the best guitarists &
vocalists we've got in NYC. Arthur Green & Deji Coker handled most of the
sax duties. Charles Otis played behind Jon Paris & (bassist) Amy Madden,
and also sang a couple of his own numbers (including the 72-year-old-women
one and the "still got your box" song). And Johnny Allen did a few
numbers.
I took a lot of photos, & will probably run a two-page photo spread in the
October issue of _true blues_, and I'm writing up a small piece for _Blues
Access_.
(And hi, Maggie - long time no see!)
Jennifer
* * *
"How many bubbles in soap? How many chews in gum? How many rolls in a wheel?
Where did eyeballs come from?" - Screamin' Jay Hawkins